Rabbi Naftali Smith is principal of JETS, a position he has held since 2007. In his role, Rabbi Smith directs the academic, vocational, and extracurricular curricula for the students.

Rabbi Smith is known around the world as a Jewish education pioneer, having impacted communities in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, building a successful Jewish vocational school in Ottawa, Canada prior to joining JETS.

Rabbi Smith grew up in Brooklyn NY, and spent his early years in New York- and UK-based Yeshivas. After graduating, he spent 2 years in Sydney, Australia as a student emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, immersing himself in community work.

In 1999, Rabbi Smith moved to Ottawa, Canada to take a position as assistant principal of the Rambam Hebrew Day School. In 2001, Rabbi Smith left Rambam to cofound and serve as dean of the first Canadian Jewish vocational school for boys. Under Rabbi Smith's leadership, this ambitious project ran for seven years, changing hundreds of lives.